The Joe Edwards debrief – Southampton 2 Wolves 3

The term ‘a game of two halves’ rang ever so true. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were awful in the first period, but amazing in the second.

Tremendous triumph

It was a fightback of epic proportions at St Mary’s.

Having seen the stunning turnaround against reigning Premier League champions City just a matter of weeks prior at Molineux, we should have known better than to count Wolves out at half-time against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men.

But I was guilty of thinking the game was gone – and I am sure many others were too.

Thankfully, Nuno’s charges kept the faith and came up with yet another result that can be classed as magnificent.

In the games leading up to this one – the five without victory – Wolves looked devoid of ideas in the final third.

And when they did create chances, they lacked ruthlessness.

That trend continued in the first 45 minutes at Southampton as well, with Raul Jimenez missing a couple of gilt-edged opportunities and the approach of working the ball wide to Adama Traore and Pedro Neto becoming predictable.

However, the team-talk at the interval – many of us would have loved to have been a fly on the dressing room wall – worked, and the switch to 3-5-2 scared the life out of the Saints.

Traore went to centre forward alongside Jimenez to devastating effect, while Neto played the No.10 role pretty much to perfection. The hosts did not know what had hit them.

For the first of Wolves’ three goals, Traore escaped the attention of the defence and sent over a cross to Neto, with the youngster making no mistake in the box.

Jimenez then tucked away a penalty in typically assured fashion – the spot-kick given after a VAR review, the technology helping Nuno’s lot for a change – before scoring the winner ever so convincingly. The three of them were top-drawer – a joy to watch.

Super Neto

Jimenez’s return to prominence – especially after an off-the-pace first period where he looked shattered – was astonishing.

Traore’s speed and decision-making in attack were delightful as well.

But special praise must go to Neto, who has excelled during Diogo Jota’s absence through injury as of late.

Arriving last summer to little fanfare, none of us knew what to expect from the 19-year-old given his lack of game time at Lazio.

His early showings were promising, but it would be fair to say the overall feeling was that he was one for the future – not this campaign.

The Portuguese, though, shone so bright at Southampton.

It was not a one-off either. He was great against Liverpool, probably the best player at Watford and had some joy against Manchester United.

Neto drifts past players with bundles of grace and – vitally – he knows where the net is.

After cruelly being denied by VAR at Anfield a few weeks back, he went and scored in the next game – the 2-1 loss to the Hornets on New Year’s Day.

And after suffering the same fate against United, he again responded in the following match by netting at the weekend.

So, for all the ability he has shown, perhaps most impressive is his character.

Imagine how gutted he must have been to have goals against two of the world’s most famous teams chalked off.

The fact he did not let either of them get to him speaks volumes of his mentality.

Neto is strong-willed and an immensely talented footballer.

The bench

Nuno, post-match, did still make a point of saying signings are needed, though, with attacking players the priority.

Whoever comes in will have a job of usurping the three who excelled at Southampton – and Jota when he is back, of course.

But more options are needed, as the bench on Saturday proved.

Apart from goalkeeper John Ruddy, Wolves did not have a player above the age of 22 among the substitutes.

And, of those, only Max Kilman – who came on for the final few minutes as Wolves saw out the win – and Morgan Gibbs-White are considered real first-teamers.

Oskar Buur, Benny Ashley-Seal, Bruno Jordao and Ryan Giles – recalled from Shrewsbury – are, really, of the under-23s.

It is obvious to everybody that fresh faces are required.

The club are confident the right business will be completed as well as we enter these final couple of weeks of the window.

Given the lack of activity so far, some fans are apprehensive.

But, behind the scenes, it is fairly relaxed as the club work to get players through the door in a month that is never straightforward.

On the whole, after the return to winning ways lifted spirits, it would be nice to see someone arrive this week and further improve the mood.

Up next

With the success over the Saints seeing Wolves move back up to sixth in the table, the next test for Nuno’s pack is against league leaders Liverpool at home.

The Reds come to town on Thursday night (8pm).

And if anyone can dish out a rare defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men, it is Wolves.

After all, they took the world champions all the way on December 29 – and could have easily come away with a point.

Once that is out of the way, they have the benefit of a weekend off after failing to progress in the FA Cup – a possible silver lining.

Then after taking on United again on February 1, Wolves have another weekend off – because of the newly-introduced winter break.

So, ultimately, there is no need for any changes in personnel to be made against Liverpool.

Wolves can go all out, as they always do, safe in the knowledge they have a good bit of time to recharge the batteries. The dilemma for Nuno is what formation to go with for the clash.